In His Arms
by TR16
Summary: He held her in his arms, cradling her. It was over, he knew it. But holding her comforted him. He placed his lips by her ear. "I love you," he whispered. .:Oneshot:. Star/Rob. Rated for character death and some language.


**Hey everybody. This is a little Star/Rob oneshot that just popped into my head. It's kind of sad, just a little warning. And I'm pretending that Trouble in Tokyo never happened (even though I'm hella glad it did. Robin and Starfire really needed that kiss!). But it never happened, ok? Ok. So I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

****

In His Arms

All was silent as the city slept. Titans Tower was exceptionally quiet, until a bright, blinking red light filled the many hallways and rooms. The loud shrieking siren woke the young leader, and he instantly threw his covers back and tossed his legs over the side of his bed and into his shoes that were waiting on the floor. He stood up and quickly grabbed his black cape off the hook next to his door and ran out of the room. He struggled to put the cape on while running down the hallways towards the main room at the top of the tower.

When he arrived moments later, he saw that he beat the rest of his team, like normal. He ran over to a small computer monitor and sat down in the chair in front of it. He began to type furiously on the keyboard as the huge window above him turned into a giant TV screen. A map of the city appeared on the TV screen, as it also did on the computer.

The door slid open behind him and a young, agile girl flew threw it, accompanied by another girl in a long, dark blue cape. They both flew over and landed behind the young leader.

"So?" The girl in the cape said. "What is it this time?"

"It takes a little while to find the trouble, _Raven_," the leader grunted.

"Not usually, _Robin_," Raven sneered back at him.

"Apparently, you both have woken up on the wrong side of the snorfla," the other girl stated, grinning slightly.

"It's six in the morning, Starfire," Robin announced.

"That is not that early, is it? We have gotten up earlier than this according to you and Cyborg."

"I know. But after going for about a week where that didn't happen, it just caught me off guard. I'm a bit tired which means I'm probably a little grumpy. We probably all will be a little. Well, maybe not you, but you're never grumpy."

At that moment the door slid open again and a tall half robot, half man walked into the room with a smaller green-skinned teenager thrown over his right shoulder.

"I couldn't get him to wake up," Cyborg reported, dumping the teen onto the ground. "We seriously need to get a louder siren or something."

"We'll figure that out a different time," Robin said. "I think I just found the trouble." A small black S inside an orange circle appeared on the map on the TV screen.

"Slade," Starfire whispered.

"Yes, Slade," Robin confirmed. "He's at an old warehouse building. I'm not quite sure what he's up to, but we'll find out soon enough." The boy wonder spun around in the chair and stood up abruptly. "Titans, go!" He yelled, pointing his finger into the air. Then he brought his arm down and ran out of the room, followed by Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg. A few seconds later Raven reentered the room and hovered over to the sleeping green teenager. Her hand was suddenly engulfed in a big black ball of energy, and she zapped the green teens butt. He woke with a scream.

"AH!" He looked up at Raven angrily. "What was that for?!" He demanded.

"Let's go!" She hissed. She grabbed his pointed green ear and pulled him out of the room.

* * *

"Is that it?" Cyborg asked.

"Yup," Robin answered.

"So what's the plan?" Beast Boy questioned.

"We're gonna' split up," Robin replied.

"Why?"

"It's large warehouse according to the computer."

"Oh."

"Alright, so I'll go with Starfire. Well, search the roof. Cyborg, you go with Beast Boy. Search the big main room that's in the middle of the warehouse. Raven, go alone and search everything else."

"Got it," Raven agreed.

"Everybody ready? Remember your positions?"

"We got it, we got it," Beast Boy told him. "Let's just go already." Starfire took Robin's hand and flew upwards toward the roof while Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven walked into the building through the huge front doors. Just inside the doors was the big main room. The three Titans walked into the room until a red laser stopped them. They looked up and saw about ten of Slade's robots on each of the six ceiling banisters and even more on the floor walking towards them.

"I think I'll stay here and held you guys out," Raven stated.

"Good idea," Beast Boy agreed. And with that, the three teenagers attacked the oncoming robots.

* * *

Starfire landed Robin on the roof, and then landed herself. The roof was flat with a lot of chimneys and fans and other things.

"Check behind everything," Robin ordered. Starfire merely nodded her head once and then flew off to search. Robin walked off in the opposite direction and began to search everywhere.

"You Titans truly amaze me," a mocking voice commented from behind him. "This is your fastest time of finding me." Robin instantly recognized Slade's voice and twirled around to see nothing behind him.

"You're quick, Robin," the voice said again from a different location. "But not quick enough." Robin spun around in a complete circle but saw nothing anywhere around him.

"Careful. You might get dizzy."

"Where are you, Slade?!" Robin yelled.

"Right in front of your face, Robin. Just look."

"What do you think I'm doing?"

"Being a silly child. I couldn't be in a more obvious location. You might want to get that mask checked."

"Don't mock me!"

"Robin!" Robin's eyes widened when he heard Starfire's voice. "Why are you yelling? Have you found him? Where are you?"

"You'd better answer your little friend."

"Robin?!" He didn't say anything, but even though he didn't, Starfire walked out from behind a large fan. "There you are!" She said, running over to him. "Why did you not answer me?"

"He's too occupied with me." Starfire let out a small gasp and her eyes strayed away from Robin's face. They ventured over his shoulder and grasped sight on the new figure standing behind him. Their arms held behind their back, just standing there motionless.

"Robin…" She whispered. Robin closed his eyes as he silently and secretly brought out one of his special boomerangs (birderangs as he liked to call them). He jerked his eyes back open and he spun around. He threw the red weapon through the air and towards the villain. But Slade dodged it easily, stepping to the side and letting it soar into the night. He stepped back to where he was standing, his standing position completely unmoved. He still held his arms behind his back and merely stood there, staring at the two Titans.

"Childish toys you have," Slade mused. "Come now, Robin. You must grow up at least a little." Robin scowled and whipped out his staff while Starfire loaded up green starbolts in her hands and hovered about a foot off the ground. Slade smirked underneath his mask and he brought a huge laser gun out from behind his back. He pointed the large weapon at Starfire and Robin, making both of them gasp in shock.

"Like it?" Slade asked. "It has the power to destroy an entire building the size of your tower and more. Of course, that's the big laser. The little laser can kill a person."

"Robin," Starfire whispered again. "We must not fight him when he has that kind of power."

"I believe Starfire is correct," Slade agreed. It sent chills down Starfire's spine whenever Slade spoke her name.

"I think we can take him," Robin disagreed.

"Tsk, tsk. Big mistake, Robin," Slade said. The inside of the laser began to fill up with a red glow and Robin held his staff in front of him, the end pointing towards Slade.

"Robin…" Starfire muttered, becoming a bit scared of the new weapon.

"Be quiet Starfire. I know what I'm doing." Starfire's eyes widened and her starbolts disappeared. Robin had never told her to be quiet or anything.

"Big…mistake!" Slade repeated, firing two laser shots at Robin, both which were small lasers. Starfire grabbed his shoulders and quickly flew upwards toward the sky. The laser blew right past where they had just stood.

"Dammit Starfire! Why did you do that?!" Robin screamed at her.

"You were going to be killed! I saved your life!"

"I told you-"

"That you knew what you were doing? You did not! You _knowing_ what you were doing almost got yourself killed!" Starfire landed them both back on the roof behind a big chimney.

"Stay out of my way! I can handle Slade! I have before!" He tried to sun off, but Starfire held his arm tightly.

"Yes, but he has never had that laser! Robin, this is…this is…unreasonable!"

"No, you are!" Starfire gasped and let his arm go. He instantly ran off. Starfire hung her head so it rested on her chest.

_I can not let him do this_, she thought. _I have to protect him._ She flew over the chimney and toward the next blow of the laser.

* * *

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" A large wooden box levitated off the ground, surrounded in a black glow, and slammed into five of Slade's robots and rammed them into the wall. Raven released the box from her powers and levitated back down to the ground. She only had a second to turn her attention to the five robots charging towards her. She raised her arms above her head and then ripped them down through the air, creating a big black shield in front of her. One of the robots punched the shield and his hand broke off, revealing the red and yellow wires that programmed him. Raven then pushed her hands forward which pushed the shield forward, carrying the robots with it until it crushed them against the wall; the shield disappeared.

"How are we doing?!" She yelled over to Cyborg as he punched another robot away from him.

"Um, ok I guess?" Cyborg responded, shooting five more robots with his sonic cannon.

"Is this ever gonna' end?" Beast Boy shouted. "It's getting really old!"

"We're super heroes, Beast Boy," Raven told him in her usual raspy voice. "You should be-" She blasted another robot to the far side of the room. "-used to it by now!"

"Well, I am but-" A robot slammed into him, crashing him onto the hard cement floor. The robot was just about punch him but Beast Boy kicked both of his legs upward and it sent the robot flying backwards and crashing into the wall. Beast Boy flipped back up onto his feet and smiled.

"Ha, ha!" He taunted the destroyed robot. "What now?!"

"Beast Boy!" Raven shrieked. She immediately shot a small ball of black energy at a charging robot that was running up behind Beast Boy. It hit the robot and blew it up right behind the green teenager. Beast Boy covered his head as he was engulfed in thick black smoke. He walked around trying to find his way out. He finally did, and he was coughing when he emerged.

"Both of you, come here next to me," Raven ordered. Beast Boy and Cyborg looked at each other, then looked at her.

"We don't need protection," Cyborg told her.

"I'm not going to protect you," Raven hissed. "Now come here!" Cyborg and Beast Boy both sighed, but went to stand next to Raven.

"Azarath…" Her hands started to glow black. "…Metrion…" She raised her arms above her head. "…Zinthos!" She threw her arms down and out to her sides. The glow from her hands created a huge shield that kept spreading and spreading, pushing and pushing all the robots toward the four warehouse walls until they were all crushed in between them. Raven lowered her arms and the black shield disappeared.

"Wow," Beast Boy said. "That was…amazing."

"And…simple," Cyborg added.

"I know. I don't know why I didn't do it in the first place," Raven commented.

"Neither do I," Beast Boy said. Raven's eyes started to glow white and a large black hand traveled out of her real hand unnoticeably. She sent it down to the floor and it slithered over to Beast Boy's feet, grabbed them, and flipped him onto his back on the floor. Raven's eyes swallowed the white glow and returned to their normal purple state. The black hand disappeared.

"What was that for?" Beast Boy demanded, rubbing the back of his head. "I was just agreeing with you!"

"It was just for fun," Raven teased, a smug smile on her lips. Beast Boy scowled at her and stood back up.

"So all the robots are destroyed," Cyborg announced.

"They should all be," Raven told him.

"I wonder how Star and Robin are doing…" Beast Boy wondered.

* * *

Robin jumped and somersaulted across the roof as a small laser passed by over his head.

"Come at me Robin!" Slade challenged him. "You have all those weapons!" He fired the laser at Robin again, but the teen jumped out of the way. Robin looked at Slade's position and thought about how he was going to get to him. But he didn't have time to thin, since he had to dodge another laser shot.

"Robin!" Starfire floated down next to him. He rolled his eyes under his white mask.

"What are you doing? Watch out!" He pushed her aside and jumped with her as another laser fire passed where they just stood.

"Thank you for doing that," Starfire said.

"Why are you here?"

"I wish to help you in battle."

"I got it under control," Robin said through clenched teeth. "Go get out here." He turned his head toward Slade. "I don't want you getting hurt." And then he ran at the villain, leaving Starfire alone, staring after him.

"I do not wish for you to get hurt, either," she sighed, hanging her head again and closing her eyes sadly.

Another laser fired and missed the ninja-like teenager. He jumped on top of a brick chimney and perched on the edge, staring at Slade. He held his staff up and aimed, and then he threw it. The silver staff flew through the air towards to masked villain, and Robin thought he was going to hit him. But instead, Slade threw his arm up and caught it before it could make contact.

"Silly, silly boy," he mused. "You thought this little toy could help you?" Robin jumped down and stood in front of the chimney.

"It has before," he stated.

"Well this time it's going to help me." Slade put the laser on the roof and took the staff in both hands.

"Watch carefully, Robin." He started to bend the metal staff, and Robin was surprised that it didn't break down the middle. It always did.

Slade kept bending it until it looked like the Titans semicircular black couch back at the tower. Slade smiled behind his mask, and Robin just stood there, awed at Slade's strength.

"This is where it gets good," Slade said. He twisted around in a circle and threw the staff back at Robin, the open end of the semi circle toward him. Robin gasped just before the staff knocked him back against the brick chimney, pinning him there. The staff ends were too stuck into the wall for Robin to break them out, and it had gone into the wall too far for Robin to just bend down and get out. He was utterly stuck against the wall, the metal staff tightly across his chest, pinning his arms to his sides. He struggled to free himself while Slade picked up his laser again and pointed it at Robin. Starfire had looked up to see everything.

"It looks like there will be no happily ever after for you, Robin," Slade said in a happy tone. Robin stopped struggling to watch the laser load up its power. And his eyes widened as it fired, coming straight at him.

Starfire ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She saw the laser fire, the fear in Robin's face. He was going to die if that laser hit him, and Starfire wasn't planning on letting that happen.

Her face glowed red from the laser as she drew nearer, and then finally, she was there.

"NO!!" She screamed, jumping from the ground and throwing herself in the laser's path. There was an incredible amount of stinging pain as the laser shot into her body. The laser held her off the ground for a few seconds, while it slowly did its work. Robin merely watched in sheer horror as he watched his best friend get killed right in front of him.

She fell to the ground and little streaks of red electricity flitted across her body as she lay motionless. Robin stared at her, and then jerked his gaze up at Slade. He was mad. He began to push as hard as he could against his restraint. He pushed and pushed and pushed until finally, the metal staff slid out of the wall and he freed himself. He ran at Slade, dodging the next laser he fired at him. He ran right up to him and grabbed the laser. He stared Slade in his one eye.

"You…monster!" He screamed. He jerked the laser away from him and then pointed the end of it at him. "I should kill you!"

"Go ahead," Slade said. "But that won't bring your friend back." Robin gritted his teeth as Slade let out an evil cackle. Robin squeezed his eyes shut and felt them getting wet. And then he jerked them open.

"Get the hell out of here!" He shrieked at him. "I never want to see your miserable face again!"

"Now we all know that won't happen," Slade said.

"LEAVE!!" Slade let out one more evil laugh before turning and running away. He ran to the other side of the roof and jumped off the edge and was gone. Robin was sobbing now, as he watched his enemy run off. His teeth gritted so hard they felt like they were going to break against each other. He closed his eyes again before opening them and slamming the laser onto the roof, breaking it completely. He opened his eyes again, turned, and ran over to Starfire's motionless body.

"Star?" He croaked. "Star, are you still with me?" He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry Star. You were right. I was out of my league fighting Slade when he had that weapon. And I'm so sorry about yelling at you. I'm so sorry." He buried his face in her red hair and felt the tears race down his cheeks. But he instantly jerked his head back up when he felt her move.

"Robin?" She rasped.

"Yeah Star, it's me. I'm right here." Her eyes fluttered opened and she looked up at his face.

"I…forgive…you," she said. "I am…sorry for getting in…your way."

"Don't be sorry at all. I should have listened to you. None of this would have happened to you."

"I do not care about…what happened to me. I care that you are safe and alive. That is why…I did what I did." Robin smiled at her.

"Star…"

"Robin, I have something I would wish…to tell you." Robin stared into Starfire's beautiful green eyes.

"Yeah?" He said.

"I love you." His eyes widened when those three words escaped her mouth. But she went on. "I have loved you ever since we first met. When I crashed...down to Earth." Robin smiled.

"I love you too, Star," he said. And then he leaned down and kissed her dying lips. Her eyes closed as they shared this passionate kiss together. When they parted, Starfire's eyes opened weakly, but she was smiling. And so was Robin.

"Good bye Robin," Starfire whispered. "I love you." Robin's smile instantly faded.

"What? No! Don't leave me yet!"

"Robin, everyone has their time. Now is mine. And remember, I will always be with you." She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes.

"No, Star! Please! Please stay with me! Starfire!" But he heard her utter out a huge sigh, and then her breathing stopped. Tears were flooding down his cheeks as he lied his ear down to her chest to listen for a heartbeat.

Nothing.

He brought his head back up, but instantly shoved his ace back into her hair. His eyes squeezed shut as he cried. After a few seconds he turned his head, resting his cheek on the top of her forehead. He held her in his arms, cradling her. It was over, he knew it. But holding her comforted him. He placed his lips to her ear.

"I love you," he whispered.

The sun began to rise, turning the dark night sky into various shades of pink and purple. His cheeks were stained with dry tears, only to be washed over by new ones. He lay there with her, wondering what was going to happen in the future without her there.

* * *

**Two Weeks Later**

He sat on his knees in front of her grave, staring at the headstone. Other than him, Raven had probably been the most disturbed about the news. The four of the had had a little funeral for her and had buried her right outside the tower, so they could go and visit her and talk to her whenever they needed. Which was what Robin was doing now.

"We all miss you Star," Robin told her. "Nothing's the same without you around. We busted Cinderblock today. You should have seen it. Amazing stuff." He looked at the grave sadly. "This must be getting old, huh? I come out here every day just to tell you about the day. I'll stop that. I'll only come out here whenever it's really important." He paused and looked away for a second. He looked out to the ocean, then turned back to the grave. "I have something for you," he said. He reached his arms up and grabbed his mask. He hesitated, thinking. Then he dug his fingers farther underneath it, and pulled it from his face. He lied it down on top of her grave, placing two medium-sized rocks on the two pointed edges. His bright blue eyes scanned the grave.

"It's a special day today," Robin said. "That's why I gave you this gift." He bowed his head and closed his eyes. When he raised his head again, he was smiling very slightly.

"Happy birthday," he whispered. Then he stood up, turned away, and walked back into the tower.

* * *

**Well, there ya go! I hope you liked it. I've been working on for, like, maybe four days. I hope I did a good job. Reviews are very much appreciated. Thanks a lot!**

**-Taylor**

* * *


End file.
